Radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosis of Primary Hyperparathyroidism

Hyperparathyroidism (HPTH) is a condition in which the level of parathyroid hormone in blood is raised. Gold standard for the diagnosis of HPTH is a measurement of serum parathyroid hormone levels, accompanied by testing serum calcium levels, to differentiate between primary and secondary HPTH. The first line of treatment with primary HPTH is surgery to remove the adenoma or the tumor, whenever possible. It is in these cases that the imaging plays an important role for localization of tumor before surgery.Imaging can be anatomical that is ultrasound, CT and MRI or functional that is using nuclear medicine modalities (SPECT, SPECT/CT, PET/CT). This article reviews the nuclear medicine modalities, various radiopharmaceuticals and imaging techniques for parathyroid imaging.